By ANDREW FEEBACK
A promising start went by the wayside for the Norwell Lady Knights as they fell to the visiting Carroll Chargers 69-57 Tuesday evening.
Norwell (13-3) surged out to a 15-4 lead in the opening minutes, capped by back-to-back triples from Makenzie Fuess.
The Chargers (9-6) turned the ball over on six of their first eight possessions.
“The start was what we’d been working for,” coach Eric Thornton said. “That was so good to see us come out and execute that well throughout the first quarter.”
The Knights led 17-9 after one and still held an eight-point lead early in the second quarter before the Chargers began to settle in.
After turning the ball over nine times against Norwell’s full-court pressure in the first frame, Carroll was mistake-free in the second period and outscored the Knights 25-13.
“We didn’t get back in transition at times, we did not rebound the ball, and we had some live turnovers that led to layups,” Thornton said. “We lost it there for a period of time, and that really hurt.”
The Chargers used a 14-1 run in a three-minute span to grab a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Half of Norwell’s turnovers came during that quarter as the Chargers seemingly turned the tables on the Knights with pressure on the ball.
They led 34-30 at halftime, then began the second half with an 11-2 burst to push their lead into double digits.
Sophomore Jersey Paul was the catalyst for Carroll, knocking down six three-pointers and leading all scorers with 22 points.
She opened the fourth quarter with one of those triples, giving Carroll its biggest lead of the game at 58-39.
Norwell worked its way back within 65-55 with 2:18 to play but came no closer.
Fuess led the Knights with 20 points, while Kennedy Fuelling added 14.
The Chargers also got 14 points from Lily George, 12 from Kayla Gibbs, and 10 from Bailey Sinish.
The Knights struggled shooting the ball, going 21 of 53 overall and 9 of 29 beyond the arc.
Carroll went 29 of 52 and made 9 of 18 three-point attempts.
Thornton felt this game was a good example of how his team needs to play a more complete game from start to finish.
“It’s going to take four quarters,” he said. “All three of our losses have been to 4A teams. This Carroll team beat Columbia City, so they’re a very high-quality team that has played a brutal schedule. For us, we need that commitment to play four quarters. If we do that, this team is good enough to beat that level of team. Tonight, we played two. The second and third quarter combined was a 46-22 score. That’s not going to get it done. I love the way our kids finished; we fought to the end. That’s not surprising to me to see that, but there in the middle of the game is where we lost it. That’s got to be where we get to as a team.”
Norwell will host Leo Friday night.
The Knights won the JV game 59-21. Jada Dale scored 18 points, Ashley Waldman had nine, Addison Norris had eight, and Larkin Smith added seven.
CARROLL 69,
NORWELL 57
At Norwell
CARROLL (9-6): Jersey Paul 8-15 0-0 22, Callie Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Shayla Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Fordyce 3-8 2-2 8, Kayla Gibbs 5-8 0-0 12, Jaidyn Fuller 1-2 0-0 3, Lauren Kirkpatrick 0-0 0-0 0, Haylee Hoch 0-0 0-0 0, Carma Bryant 0-0 0-0 0, Ava Myers 0-0 0-0 0, Avery Zimmerman 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Sinish 5-10 0-0 10, Emma Wiginton 0-0 0-0 0, Danica Dafforn 0-0 0-0 0, Lily George 7-9 0-2 14. TOTALS: 29-52 2-4 69.
NORWELL (13-3): Madyson Sonnigsen 0-0 0-0 0, Dekota Hubble 0-2 0-0 0, Kennedy Fuelling 5-15 2-2 14, Ryland Graft 1-3 0-0 2, Haley Green 1-1 0-0 2, Lillian Norris 2-4 0-0 5, Annabelle Johnson 3-8 0-1 7, Addison Norris 0-0 0-0 0, Makenzie Fuess 6-14 3-4 20, Ali Riley 0-0 0-0 0, Vanessa Rosswurm 3-6 1-2 7, Mekynzi Beck 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Waldman 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21-53 6-9 57.
Carroll 9 25 21 14 — 69
Norwell 17 13 9 18 — 57
Three-point Goals: Carroll 9-18 (Paul 6-12, Gibbs 2-3, Fuller 1-1, Fordyce 0-2), Norwell 9-29 (Fuess 5-13, Fuelling 2-10, Johnson 1-1, Lillian Norris 1-3, Graft 0-1, Rosswurm 0-1). Rebounds: Carroll 28 (George 7, Sinish 6, Paul 5, Fordyce 5, Gibbs 4, Hoch 1), Norwell 18 (Fuelling 4, Hubble 3, Lillian Norris 3, Fuess 2, Rosswurm 2, Green 2, Johnson 2). Turnovers: Carroll 17, Norwell 12. Fouls: Carroll 7, Norwell 9. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
JV: Norwell 59, Carroll 21.
